The proposal to dissolve Patos Municipality into Fier Municipality has triggered a direct clash over the logic of the territorial reform. Patos Mayor Fation Duro opposes the plan, relying on the commission’s own indicators, which, according to him, do not present Patos as a problematic municipality or one incapable of exercising its functions.
Patos against the argument of “weak municipalities”
According to Duro, the Commission’s final report does not classify Patos as a poorly performing municipality. On the contrary, he says the municipality ranks 10th among the country’s 61 municipalities in the Municipal Functionality Index, with 71.7 points.
This result is considered a high level, since in the report any score above 65 points is treated as a positive indicator. At this point, Patos’ objection raises a clear question about the official reasoning behind the review of the local map.
What the index being used as a counterargument measures
The Municipal Functionality Index assesses elements such as fiscal autonomy, budget rigidity, coverage of functions, staff efficiency and arrears.
It is precisely on these indicators that, according to the version made public by Duro, Patos does not appear to face functional difficulties. This makes the merger proposal even more debatable if one of the reform’s justifications is that smaller units cannot cope with the administrative and financial burden.
Comparison with Fier and the municipalities of the county
The Patos mayor claims that the municipality he leads has 16.3 points more than Fier Municipality and shows the highest functional performance in the entire county.
If this picture is confirmed in the official documents, then the situation becomes politically and administratively complicated: the municipality proposed to lose its status performs better than the one expected to absorb it.
The question that remains without a clear answer
Duro wants to know what specific functional failure of Patos Municipality justifies removing its status. According to him, the commission’s own official index ranks Patos among the best municipalities in the country.
The debate here is not limited only to a local rivalry with Fier. It touches on the credibility of the criteria by which the territorial reform is being pushed forward and whether decisions are truly being based on performance, or whether they are ignoring the very data produced by institutions.
At its core, Patos’ objection pits two narratives against each other: that of a reform that speaks of efficiency and that of figures which, according to the municipality’s claims, show that Patos is not among the units that are failing.
For precisely this reason, the proposal to merge it with Fier is not being read simply as administrative reorganization, but as a decision that requires a stronger public and institutional explanation.